


The Flaming Oven: A series of Naruto Character Studies

by SparrowStrike



Category: Naruto
Genre: Character Study, Gen, One Shot Collection, Slice of Life, why is the oven on fire and how does X handle it
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-29
Updated: 2020-10-01
Packaged: 2021-03-06 21:49:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,303
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26175994
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SparrowStrike/pseuds/SparrowStrike
Summary: The name kind of says it all. It's a series of one shots focusing on how different character's ovens ended up on fire and how they handled the situation. Got a bit of angst, an adoption AU, some found family, and lots of thoughts on the struggles of being a young adult on your own for the first time.
Comments: 3
Kudos: 13





	1. Naruto Uzumaki (age 9) and Iruka Umino (age 23)

Iruka first started to wonder when Naruto showed up for class in a rumpled shirt. It didn’t smell, but was the sort of rumpled that implies it was fished out of the laundry basket. Naruto was only 7 and kids that age like to dress themselves but lack any and all common sense, so he brushed it off.

Iruka started to get suspicious when Naruto showed up for class with a fever and a cough that shook his whole little body. The 8 year old staggered into class, dropped into his seat, laid his head down on the desk, and was out in seconds. Iruka had to shake him awake and send him to the nurse’s office propped up between Kiba and Shikamaru.

The nurse let Naruto sleep in her office until lunch time and then she sent him home with fever tablets and a cough suppressant. She told Iruka not to worry. Kids this age were basically germ factories.

Iruka started asking questions when the week before the annual physicals, he found Naruto eating raw carrots and broccoli. The kid was going to town like he was starving and the vegetables were some sort of delicacy, but his face said he was doing his best not to cry or puke.

“How’s lunch?” Iruka asked.

Naruto stared up at him with a fading black eye and sighed like he was weary of the world at only 9 years old. “Horrible, but I read you’ve got to eat vegetables to grow.”

Iruka snorted. Naruto was a good 2 inches shorter than the other boys in the class and like all kids his age, it was a sore point. 

“I don’t think cramming in vegetables before your physical is going to make much of a difference,” Iruka teased. “You really can’t cram for stuff like this.”

Naruto stared down at the half eaten head of broccoli in his hand. “Well, after last year, the nurse already told me she was going to check my shoes for padding, so this was kind of plan B.” He then took another sad bite of the broccoli. “Iruka-sensei, why are vegetables both expensive and disgusting?”

Iruka shrugged. “They’re not that expensive and I think they taste better cooked.”

“They’re more expensive than instant ramen and I guess some of them tast okay if you put them in the ramen, but the flavors don’t always go together.”

Iruka laughed. “You really need to eat something other than ramen.”

“I don’t know how to cook anything else. Except rice, but it always boils over and then I have to clean the stove and if I clean the stove, I don’t have time to do laundry,” Naruto lamented.

Iruka’s face fell and a dozen questions crowded his tongue. “Do you always cook and do the laundry?”

Naruto nodded. “There’s no laundry fairy.” He grinned up at Iruka like he’d said a great joke. “I also vacuum and dust and scrub the bathroom, but not as often as I should. There’s not enough hours in the day, you know?”

Iruka looked like he’d been slapped. “Yeah, I know.” There was a pile of laundry sitting in the corner of his little apartment that needed done. He’d eaten out for the last week, because there wasn’t time to go grocery shopping. The spider in the corner of his windowsill had been there long enough that Iruka had given it a name. But those were adult problems. 

Naruto wasn’t grinning anymore. He mirrored Iruka’s frown and tried to figure out what he’d said wrong.

“Hey, Naruto, would you like to learn to cook some more stuff?” Iruka asked.

Naruto’s grin returned.

\---

Iruka arrived at Naruto’s apartment (he’d found the address in Naruto’s school records, because the kid was horrible at giving directions) a little after 5 that evening with an armload of groceries. 

The hairs on the back of Iruka’s neck prickled as he got close. He could feel Naruto’s chakra, the Fox’s chakra. 

Iruka shoved aside his unease and pasted on a smile. Naruto was not the Fox and Iruka refused to treat them as one and the same.

Naruto was watching the street and came jogging down the stairs to help carry everything up to the third floor where he lived.

Iruka surveyed the little loft while Naruto ransacked the bags of groceries. The only decorations on the walls were a small child’s drawings. The bed was made, a bit rumpled and crooked, but an obvious effort had been made. A few well-worn plush were neatly set up on the bed, because of course that would be a kid’s priority. The dirty clothes were mostly contained to a not quite overflowing laundry basket. A couple shirts that Iruka recognized as Naruto’s favorites were laid out on the floor to dry and a bucket of soapy water was sitting by the laundry basket, waiting for the next load.

It wasn’t a bad space, but it confirmed Iruka’s suspicions. There was only one person living here. There’d only been one person living here for a long time. 

Iruka closed his eyes. He’d been on his own for a long time, too. After he lost his parents, his Aunt and Uncle gave him a room in their house. They kept him fed and clothed until he made chuunin and he could support himself. They never tried to fill the void his parents’ left, but he was still grateful to them. Naruto didn’t even have that.

“I brought stuff to make a casserole. It’s really easy and I think you’ll ike it because all the vegetables are hidden under a bunch of cheese and potatoes,” Iruka said.

Naruto set down the green pepper he was suspiciously sniffing and nodded.

“First, we start preheating the oven…”

Iruka showed Naruto how to layer the food in a big glass dish. 

Naruto kneeled on a barstool to see the countertop and chattered the whole time.

Neither of them noticed anything amiss until the smoke alarm over the stove started to beep.

Iruka turned around to see black smoke billowing out of the oven door.

“Is that supposed to happen?” Naruto asked. “I’ve never used the oven.” He looked up at Iruka curiously, not yet concerned.

For 3 heartbeats, Iruka just stared.  _ DO NOT PANIC! _ he ordered himself.  _ DO NOT PANIC AND SCARE NARUTO!!!! _

“Laundry water,” Iruka stammered at last. His voice was surprisingly level. 

Naruto cocked his head to the side and frowned.

“Take the clothes out of the washing bucket and bring me the water,” Iruka repeated. His voice was just a little higher pitched than normal and his hands twitched at his sides, unsure what exactly to do.

Naruto jumped off the stool and did as he was told.

Iruka grabbed the oven mits off the counter, turned off the oven, and, when Naruto reappeared with a bucket of soapy water, Iruka yanked the oven door open and chucked the whole bucket inside.

The mess inside steamed, sputtered, and smelled awful-- like burning plastic and garbage.

Iruka gagged and turned to Naruto. “What was in there?”

Naruto ran a hand through his hair and winced at the smouldering mess. “I don’t know. Junk I don’t use and the garbage can. I keep it there so I don’t have to look at it all the time.”

Iruka refilled the bucket from the sink and dumped it in the oven again. The fire was good and out, but the whole apartment skunk horribly and the kitchen area was covered in a fine layer of soot. 

“Let’s go to Ichiraku. I’m buying.”

Naruto whooped and bolted for the door to put on his shoes.

Iruka just stared at the ruined oven and shook his head.  _ This is like the adult version of microwaving the instant noodles without water, only worse. _ The place would need scrubbed and aired out. Naruto would need a new stove and some place to stay for a few days.

“Before we go, why don’t you throw some clothes in a bag. You should probably not sleep here until I can get this cleaned up,” Iruka told Naruto. 

“Can I stay with you, Iruka-sensei?”

“Yup. And we’ll try cooking lessons again tomorrow.”

Naruto laughed and beamed. “I’ve never had a sleepover before. If I knew all it took was a flaming oven, I would have set that thing on fire a long time ago!”

Iruka laughed too then. It was either laugh or cry and he didn’t want to cry in front of Naruto.

A one night sleepover became a week. Bit by bit, Naruto’s things materialized in Iruka’s apartment. Iruka taught Naruto how to make katsudon, casserole, and ramen from scratch that they both agreed wasn’t quite as good as Ichiraku Ramen.

No one questioned the change when Naruto came to school everyday in clean clothes with a balanced lunch. Or when he suddenly was completing his homework and no longer napping during the day.

Iruka still had a pack of dust bunnies under his bed and Kuro-chan was paying rent in dead flies from the windowsill, but the laundry in the corner didn’t pile up anymore. Laundry was Naruto’s favorite chore, especially since Iruka’s apartment building had an electric washer and dryer in the basement.

  
Iruka did his grading from the kitchen table now. Naruto sat across from him and did his homework after dinner. 

At 10, Iruka steered the kid to the little office turned bedroom. The bed was sloppily made, but a handful of well loved plush were carefully arranged by the pillow and Naruto thought it was the best bedroom in the world.

\---

_ Dear Esteemed Hokage-sama, _

_ I am writing to you in regards to Uzumaki Naruto’s living situation. His apartment is currently uninhabitable. There was a small kitchen fire (absolutely not Naruto’s fault), but it was sufficient to fill the small apartment with smoke. I take full responsibility for the situation and have taken Naruto back to my apartment. He will stay there as long as need be. It could easily be a couple months at least. The oven will need replaced and the smoke probably sunk into the drywall, so all of that will need to be ripped out and replaced. I did some research, and with the age of the building, there could be asbestos in the walls, so the demolition isn’t something that can just be done willy-nilly… _

Hiruzen set the letter down, it rambled on for another page and a half, and picked up a pen.

_ Iruka, _

_ If you are comfortable with the arrangement, I agree it’s best that Naruto stay with you indefinitely. Please endeavour to avoid any further incidents. Children are impressionable and have enough of an affinity for fire as it. _

_ -Hiruzen Sarutobi _


	2. Sasuke Uchiha (age 19, basically canon compliant)

Sasuke moved into the little row house with nothing but what he’d carried on his back the last 2 years. 

It was 2 stories tall, narrow, and he was pretty sure the ivy was more load bearing than the bricks. 

A rotund tabby cat sunned itself on the front step of the unit next door. 

The little patch of flowerbed next to the front stairs was choked with weeds, but a couple irises still managed to shove their way up to bloom.

The street out front was busy all hours of the day.

Across the street was a potter, a bakery, and a fancy little cafe that served imported pastries.

Curtains twitched and the neighbors watched Sasuke walk up to the door with open curiosity. This area of town was heavily civilian and he was very obviously a shinobi.

2 years away from the village had changed Sasuke beyond these people’s recognition. He’d had his last growth spurt and his shoulders were broader. His hair was long enough that he wore it in a low ponytail. He met their curious looks with a hesitant smile and a small wave from his remaining arm.

People smiled and waved back.

The cat raised its head to watch Sasuke fumble with the lock and then laid back down to continue purring.

Sasuke thought this place couldn’t get more perfect.

On his first night in the row house, Sasuke tried to cook a meatloaf. 

A knock at the door pulled him away from the kitchen.

A little old lady with her gray hair in a high bun and glasses that resembled small dishes grinned at him. 

“I’m Mrs. Matsuda. I live to the left. The lazy cat is Mebuki. We just wanted to welcome you to the neighborhood.”

A plate of cookies, still warm, were thrust into Sasuke’s arm before he could say anything.

“Thank you,” Sasuke stammered. 

“You looked like you could use some cookies. There’s not enough meat on you shinobi types,” Mrs. Matsuda said and then she toddled back to her door before Sauske could figure out whether he should bite the bullet and introduce himself or how he could protect the delicate and welcome blanket of anonymity he’d managed to find here.

Sasuke wandered back into his new home. He didn’t have any real furniture yet, but a pile of cushions stacked against the living room wall made a decent couch, at least it was an improvement to the logs and rocks Sasuke’d spent his evening on for the last 2 years.

Sasuke ate a cookie and stared at the empty wall across the room. He chewed slowly, savoring the different flavors. There was vanilla and another sweetness Sasuke couldn’t quite identify between the chocolate chips. It was good. 

Sasuke didn’t usually like sweet things, but the cookie tasted like a home. 

Sasuke closed his mismatched eyes. Home was a tenuous, fragile thing.

Konoha would never be home again, not after what they did to the clan and to Itachi. Not after watching Naruto suffer the village’s predjudice for years and learning Kakashi’s story. How many people had this place destroyed?

Sasuke grabbed another cookie and shoved the whole thing in his mouth. The sweetness was almost unpleasant and oddly grounding. 

Konoha might never be home again, but this little row house could exist beyond it’s address. This space could be home. Naruto, Sakura, and Kakashi were his home (had been for years). The fact that they lived in Konoha didn’t change that.

Sasuke leaned back and rested his head on the wall behind him.

The question of whether he had a home was a tentative, but hopeful, yes.

The question of how to keep it was one Sasuke didn’t know how to answer.

Would Mrs. Matsuda bring  _ Sasuke Uchiha _ cookies? 

Sasuke knew who he was and what he’d done. He’d understood when so many argued for his permanent incarceration or his death. He hadn’t fought either option.

Kakashi and Naruto had used every favor they’d ever earned and the full weight of who they were and what they’d done to keep him alive in the months after the war.

Sakura’s tactics had been less diplomatic. Had Naruto and Kakashi failed, Sasuke had no doubt the kunoichi would have punched a hole in the wall and saved him herself-- not that he had or would have asked that of her.

When the question of how to imprison someone with both the sharingan and the rinnegan came up around the Council’s table, Sakura destroyed the table and dared the council to try. 

Sasuke owed her his freedom. He owed her everything he was now and everything he would ever become.

2 years had changed Sasuke. He’d crossed the world, learned to raise a barn, sow seeds, and reap a harvest. He’d been welcomed as a stranger. He’d fought bandits and searched for lost children. He’d learned to stitch wounds and battle nightmares (his own and others). He’d climbed mountains and swam in the ocean. He’d thought long and heard about his place in the world and he’d healed in ways he never thought he could.

Sasuke came home determined to do better, to pay back the faith placed in him. He didn’t believe in Konoha and Konoha didn’t believe in him, but the others believed in Konoha and Sasuke believed in them. If he could work from the shadows to support them, cloaked in anonymity, Sasuke thought he might be able to keep the peace in his soul that he’d found somewhere between the coast of Kiri and the sand dunes of Suna.

But how does the last Uchiha-- a man with 1 arm, one purple eye, and a well known name-- avoid attention?

A loud beep made Sasuke jump and scramble for the sword he wasn’t wearing.

The beeping continued, but Sasuke couldn’t hear it over the blood rushing in his ears.

It took a good 30 seconds for Sasuke’s adrenaline to level off enough for his brain to register the source of the ear splitting beep. 

Black smoke was pouring across the ceiling like water down a a stream and Sasuke’s eyes tracked it’s path across the whote plaster, past the screaming smoke alarm, and into the kitchen.

Sasuke staggered to his feet and bolted for the kitchen.

The oven was on fire. The smoke billowed out the edges of the oven door and up through the burners on the stove top.

Sasuke just stared. His mind was moving 90 miles an hour, but not in a useful direction.

_ The neighbors had to hear the alarm.  _

_ Mrs. Matsuda was probably in her kitchen, baking another batch of cookie or something.  _

_ Someone was going to show up at Sasuke’s door.  _

_ The fire department was going to come. _

_ There were going to be questions and Sasuke would be exposed.  _

Sasuke swallowed hard. The smoke burned his throat. He wasn’t ready to face Konoha. T _ he alarm needed to stop, NOW. _

A kunai silenced the alarm, permanently.

The oven was still spilling smoke. Sasuke glanced around the kitchen in the vain hope that maybe there was something he could use as a water bucket. He owned a metal, campfire tea pot, but it as still packed in his bag. And it only made 3 cups of tea. A flaming oven needed more than 3 cups of water.

The smoke had to be visible through the kitchen window. 

Sasuke thought he was someone on the sidewalk. He acted on instinct and the whole oven vanished.

With its source cut off, the smoke spread out and quickly became less visually obvious. The smell lingered.

Sasuke’s eyes and nose watered. He coughed and his brain started to process the last several minutes.

The smoke alarm was impaled by a kunai. The blade sunk all the way into the wall.

Soot and smoke settled on the off white walls, leaving them grey and dingy. 

The smell was horrific.

The empty place that had been the stove’s home seemed huge in the tiny kitchen.

Sasuke had no idea where he’d teleported the burning appliance.

Sasuke turned on his heel, grabbed his purse off the counter, and walked out of the house.

He needed cleaning supplies and a new stove. Naruto and Sakura were going to be over in the morning and he needed there to be no evidence of this incident when they arrived. Among the 3 of them, they’d always agreed that if someone was going to light a kitchen on fire, it would be Naruto. Sasuke would never live it down. He could almost hear Naruto joking about how he’d gotten too used to cooking over a campfire.

Sasuke shook his head and walked faster. There was a hardware store just down the street and some sort of takeout restaurant next door. 

_ Welcome to home ownership _ , Sasuke thought with a grim smile. What is home besides something you’re willing to work for, build on and improve, and fight to protect?


	3. Naruto Uzumaki (age 26, basically canon compliant)

By the time Naruto officially received the title of Hokage at age 25, he had a pretty good idea of what he was in for. Kakashi had let him get pretty hands on the last couple years. Naruto knew the volume of paperwork that day to day life in the village generated. He understood the intricate rituals of niceties that dealing with clan elders and the daimyo’s representatives required. He knew when to lean on his reputation, when to call in favors, and when to put his foot down and a scary face on (that last one he learned from Yamoto-sensei).

Naruto went into the job fully aware of the mental challenge the job presented and the physicality of it. Hokages these days weren’t leading their village on the battlefield, but peace didn’t make the job easy. 

Naruto became one of the primary leaders in a new and vast global economy. In peace, a web of intricate and delicate political ties grew into place through marriages, friendships, trade routes, and tourism. To Naruto, this new and fragile world order was a thing of beauty. It was something he knew would require active protection and lots of late nights at the office.

So, a couple days into his tenure as Hokage, Naruto tucked a case of instant ramen in the bottom drawer of his desk. Sure, he could afford to have Ichiraku delivered, but there was something nostalgic about the styrofoam cups. 

Instant ramen saw Naruto through the academy, through the chuunin exams, through years on the road with Jiriya, and he would forever associate them with both a hard day’s work and success.

To Naruto, they were as much a reminder of how far he’d come and how anything really was possible with enough guts and dedication, as they were a nostalgic and easy dinner.

The new trade treaty with Kiri was giving Naruto a headache. He’d ready it half a dozen times and Mei’s swirling cursive looked less and less like words each time.

Naruto ran a hand through his hair and groaned. Outside his office the sun had set over an hour ago. 

At lunch, Naruto had sent a clone home to tell Hinata he wouldn’t be back until late. 

With a weary sigh, Naruto fished a styrofoam cup out of his desk and picked his way around piles of history books and half drafted missives.

The hokage’s office was on the 6th floor of the administrative building. On the fourth floor, there was a kitchen and a breakroom.

The only other person in the kitchen was an anbu in a bird mask. 

The anbu was making a mug of coffee. 

Naruto studied the anbu carefully, trying to figure out if he knew this one. They were a bit shorter than him and had dark hair cut at their shoulders. Under the cloak, it was hard to guess if they were a man or woman.

“Coffee?” the anbu asked and offered Naruto the coffee pot.

Naruto didn’t recognize the anbu’s voice. They sounded like a woman and like they were on the young side.

Kakashi had imposed age limits on the anbu. At the youngest, she could be 19. 

Naruto mentally berated himself.  _ When did 19 suddenly sound so young? I must be getting old. _

The anbu was still waiting for an answer. 

Naruto shook his head. “No. No thank you.” He held up his instant ramen as an explanation.

“Long night?” the anbu asked. Naruto and his 10 cent ramen were a well known combination.

Naruto nodded. “Yeah. Sorry about that. I know you guys are stuck here until I go home.”

“No need to apologize. This is a good job. We’re all happy to take turns doing it between away missions.”

Naruto blinked in surprise. 

“It’s a nice break from sleeping rough and eating nutritional supplement bars in the rain,” the anbu added.

Naruto snickered. “You just get off a mission somewhere in water country?”

“Escorting a representative from their academy home. He was here for the Global Academy Restructuring Conference.”

Naruto smiled at that. The Academy Restructure was something Kakashi started. Naruto was pretty sure he’d called in a lifetime of favors and possibly pulled a knife on a couple of clan elders to get it off the ground here at home.

With the new curriculum and minimum age requirements in place, every graduating class was more prepared for the real world than the one before it. By the time Kakashi handed off the hat, there was no longer a shortage of medic in Konoha, genin casualties were lower than any other time in recorded history, and the rookie mission records spoke for themselves.

Convincing the other countries to consider adopting similar changes was Naruto’s first big win in office.

The conference had taken almost a year to organize, mostly because convincing foreign powers to share any details of their education system was like wrestling a greased toad in a mudpit (especially since those education systems functioned primarily as feeders for the military).

Naruto realized he’d spaced out, grinning like an idiot at the anbu, and winced. “Sorry.”

The anbu tried to disguise a snicker as a cough. She raised her mug in a small salute and headed for the door.

Naruto raised his ramen in reply and she didn’t pretend to hide a snort that time.

With the anbu gone, Naruto turned back to the task at hand. His stomach was growling and hopefully some food would clear the fog from his mind.

Naruto cracked the lid, put the ramen in the microwave, and set the timer for 3 minutes.

As the cup spun in lazy circles and the machine hummed, Naruto’s mind drifted.

He remembered Kakashi pulling him aside after the Global Academy Restructuring Conference. 

Kakashi put his hand on Naruto’s shoulder and met his former student’s questioning stare. Both of them privately wondered when they’d become the same height.

Kakashi opened his mouth to speak, but couldn’t seem to find his words. “Thank you,” he said at last.  _ No more child soldiers. No more kids growing up on the battlefield. No more Obitos, Rins, Hakus, Zabuzas, Itachis.. No more people like me. _

“I’m just finishing what you started,” Naruto said with an easy smile.

“I’m proud of you.”

Naruto held that memory close on the days the job was at its worst. He had the family he always dreamed of, the friends he’d never dared imagine, and the power to do real good. 

The microwave beeped that it was done.

Naruto shook off the memories and reached for the door. He stopped short and it took his sleep deprived brain 3 precious seconds to realize what was wrong.

The microwave was full of black smoke and it was beginning to seep out around the door and through the vent in the back.

Naruto’s mind flipped into overdrive like it was trying to make up for lost time. If the smoke alarm went off, he’d interrupt Shikamaru and the Fire Daimyo’s representative negotiating border guard contracts, a clanhead meeting that was already running 3 hours over, and kami knew how many other important and time sensitive things.

Naruto grabbed the microwave and ran. 

_ Elevator’s too slow. Alarm on the fire escape. Have to take the main stairs. _

Naruto kicked the door to the staircase open and charged down the first flight of stairs. Smoke hung in the air behind him and the microwave plug bounced off the concrete steps.

The jostling seemed to be helping more smoke escape. It stung Naruto’s eyes and he ran faster.

Naruto vaulted over the railing, falling the last story and staggering out the door.

The night was quiet. The moon hung low overhead and the stars glittered.

Naruto burst out laughing and raised the microwave in triumph.

At which point, the fire alarm went off behind him.

Konohagakure’s administrative leadership, the Fire Daimyo’s representative, a visiting dignitary from Kumo, and a handful of anbu found the hokage standing on the front sidewalk holding a still smoking microwave.

Other than the fire alarm and the distant sound of sirens as the fire department headed their way, it was oddly quiet.

From the edge of the evacuated crowd, Shikamaru motioned for Naruto to put down the microwave.

Naruto frowned, trying to figure out what Shikamaru was miming and then glanced down at the microwave. 

Naruto took a deep breath and set down the microwave inorder to buy him time to figure out what to say.

The smell of burned styrofoam was acidic and sharp. It burned Naruto’s throat and he coughed.

Everyone just watched.

Naruto swallowed hard and then blurted out, “Sorry everyone. I tried, but I wasn’t quite fast enough.”

The silence stretched.

Shikamaru sighed and buried his face in his hands.

Someone laughed. 

Naruto caught a glimpse of an anbu in a bird mask doubled over giggling and just like that the tension broke. 

Naruto did his best to laugh with everyone, but it felt a little too much like his academy days. His smile was a little too forced and the familiar ache of loneliness settled in his chest.

Naruto sat on the curb beside the no longer smoking microwave while the fire department cleared the building and turned off the alarm.

Several of the meetings and negotiations broke for the night or relocated to one of the nearby late night restaurants. Nothing like a pre-dinner show, good food, and a bit of sake to ease the way for treaties.

Naruto cradled the black lump that had been his dinner. The soot stained his fingers and the smell of it made his eyes water, at least he told himself that was it.

“Hokage-sama?”

Naruto glanced up. 

The bird anbu was standing somewhat awkwardly in front of him. She shifted from foot to foot, like she wasn’t quite committed to standing her ground. 

“My replacement showed up a while ago, but I don’t really have any place I need to be and I thought you might be hungry so I grabbed you some hopefully more edible ramen,” the anbu slung her bag off her shoulder, pulled out a familiar takeout container, and held it out to Naruto.

Naruto blinked in surprise and took the container with smudged fingers. “Thank you.”

“You know it means a lot that you tried.”

Naruto raised an eyebrow.

The anbu ran a hand through her hair and tried to choose the right words. “I know that probably sounds like I’m just trying to suck up to my boss, but seriously. It’s the little, unconscious things people do that show who they really are. Like taking the time to talk to a literally faceless new hire. It proves you really mean all those grand things you say.”

Naruto’s shoulders relaxed and he shook his head. “I’m pretty sure all I proved was the accuracy of my knuckleheaded reputation.”

The anbu shook her head. “How many other Kage would have worried about interrupting everyone else’s meetings or keeping people late? How many people in power do you think would give a shit about inconveniencing everyone else, especially when they’re hungry and working overtime on thankless paperwork? You tried. You cared. You’re still here, waiting to get back inside and finish said thankless paperwork. That matters.”

Naruto wiped his eyes with the back of his hand and smeared soot across his forehead. “The bar really is low isn’t it.”

The anbu groaned. “Take a compliment and eat your ramen,” she snapped.

Naruto smiled and popped the lid off the container. 

The anbu nodded, a single sharp movement, pleased. She turned and started down the street. “Next time just chucked the microwave out the window.”

“My luck it’ll explode when it hits the ground and then we’ll all be locked inside all night over a bomb scare.”

The anbu just laughed and slipped into the shadows.

\---

For 3 months, everytime Naruto stayed late a bowl of Ichiraku turned up on his desk.

Then Shikamaru set the copy machine on fire twice in the same week and Naruto lost his status as office fire hazard.


End file.
